The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) is an independent body that fosters postgraduate education in surgery and provides surgical training throughout the region of East, Central and Southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. COSECSA delivers a common surgical training programme with an internationally bench-marked exam and qualification. COSECSA is a non-profit making body that currently operates in 14 countries in the sub-Saharan region:

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

, Sudan, Tanzania,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

History

COSECSA grew out of the Association of Surgeons of East Africa (ASEA). ASEA was formally inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya on 9 November 1950. In 1996, in response to perceived inadequacies of surgical training in the region, the ASEA steering committee decided to create the College of Surgeons of East, Central & Southern Africa (COSECSA). These inadequacies were seen to be the limited capacity of university teaching hospitals' surgical training programmes, the increasing difficulty in accessing UK surgical training programmes at that time and the variability of training programmes from country to country. The official inauguration of the College was held in Nairobi in December 1999. In December 2001, at the first annual general meeting in Lusaka, Zambia the council of the college was elected by the foundation fellows.

Training model

COSECSA has been described as a "college without walls." Trainee surgeons undertake their clinical training in accredited hospitals under supervision of an accredited trainer. The academic component of the programme is delivered online, through an e-learning portal, and through workshops held across the region.

Academic structure

COSECSA has two programmes: (a) Membership: A certificate of competence in surgery at General Medical Officer Grade (minimum 2 years training) and (b) Fellowship: A specialist qualification in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Urology, Paediatric Surgery, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology (minimum 5 years training). As of December 2016, COSECSA has graduated a cumulative total of 206 Fellows, with another 389 trainees actively training in 60 accredited training hospitals. At that time, there were 973 members and fellows of the college. A complete list of current fellows and members is available at this online reference.

Partner organisations

COSECSA is a founding association of the ''Pan African Association of Surgeons''. The College also has a long-standing collaboration programme with the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

References

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